HBO Panel Scoffs At eSports

HBO's Real Sports with Byrant Gumbel recently ran a story on eSports, specifically Riot Games' League of Legends. However, many of the panelists don't think it's a sport at all.

The clip below is the panel's reaction to reporter Soledad O'Brien's piece on the League of Legends Championship. Most the assembled cast seems to scoff at the idea of eSports in general, and most seem to believe that it's not a sport. However, O'Brien herself (who did the actual coverage) disagrees with the majority opinion.

Our Take:On the one hand, I'm glad that HBO's program (which is usually a high quality sports journalism program) chose to expose more people to eSports and League of Legends. As for those on the panel that scoffed, it's understandable in many ways. It's definitely not a traditional sport. However, I wish they wouldn't have been so dismissive (especially the person who reached for the lame Star Trek convention joke). However, credit to O'Brien for keeping an open mind. In my opinion, eSports doesn't need the approval of the traditional sports world. It's a highly popular competitive event that thousands participate in and millions watch - and it doesn't matter what you call it